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Thanks everyone for coming out! For the next 3 weeks, we’ll be Playing and Rating the games you created.You NEED ratings to get a score at the end. Play and Rate games to help others find your game.We’ll be announcing Ludum Dare 36’s August date alongside the results.

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PSA: As of Chrome 42 (Released April 14th), NPAPI plugins are disabled by default! That means Unity Player, Java, and Silverlight games will not work in the Chrome browser! That said, Flash in the Chrome browser continues to work fine (PPAPI).

To Developers: Consider using HTML5 and WebGL instead. Having troubles with the export? Don’t worry. See Ports below.

To Players: A workaround is to enable NPAPI plugins in your Chrome settings. Click or Copy+Paste this URL in to a tab:

Downloads and Links

Ratings

Comments

Wow! This was incredible! The game looks gorgeous for how little time was available. The idea of a sword that you ride as the unconventional weapon was very unique, and the manner in which you traverse the world is creative as well. Most importantly, I really think the visuals and the audio is what sold me on this game. I would absolutely purchase this game if it were on Steam or any other platform, that's how impressed I am with this submission. Great job!

I really didn't get what was going on, you should really include some instructions on what's going on. gameplay was a little obtuse, as soon as you fall off the bacon you're kind of fucked which isn't really fun.

graphics are awesome, really liked the sprite-y aesthetic, just a shame the gameplay was so frustrating.

Beautiful platformer shoot-em-up? Sign me up for more! (And that last pair of lasers is rough!)
For those having trouble early on, don't jump off the sword immediately, and use wall jump to get back on when you see a chance.

Yeah, I agree with the others, without tutorial it's really hard to understand what to do in the game. Understood the jumping mechanic inly after the 5th death at the some thing.
But without that, really nice-looking and polished game

Omg, I understood that you can stay on the sword only after publishing the comment and reading the other ones!
I thought that's just a simple platformer
Now I think it deserves 5/5, but guys, you REALLY need to write, that you can jump on the sword, because it looks like a decoration.

Also, is it okay that you can jump endlessly if you press z+x and direction keys simultaneously?

Wow, some silver serfer right there, with the main piss-me-off of the nes game, particularly falling of the glide(dying in nes) when touching platform with the guy. Other than that it is a brilliant entry - graphics and effects are super.

This is one really nice a cool clever game, but man is it hard. I really like the idea of this having to move quickly to get back on your board but the placement of those enemies was brutal to get passed. Awesome entry!

Great effects, I like the dust particles, parallax scrolling, laser and explosions.
The game design is weird... falling off your sword accidentally is usually a death sentence. Then there is one sequence where you are forced to leave the sword behind, but it doesn't reappear at the next checkpoint so you have to kill yourself. I was able to complete the game, but I think it needs some more details added. Still a great achievement considering the short time it was made in.

Glaring gameplay bugs allow you to complete every section without riding the sword. You can jump-climb all the walls, going over or under pretty much every section. But, very beautiful game. Loved the effect of GAME OVER. Well done.

This looks incredible however just getting on the sword was a bit of a control nightmare. I had to jump right on to the end of it and frequently failed making dying and replaying an unfriendly experience. The font was also not a great choice as it took me a while to work out that it meant z and not 2. Aesthetically polished, but could do with some work mechanically.

On one hand, you made something super polished graphically. On the other hand, it is very irritating to play. I mean that not as a personal insult or anything, but as player feedback. A few particular notes:

1. Bloom seems way too strong to me for the sword rocket and the sword beam. In particular, the sword rocket being so bright means you're likely to kill yourself a couple of times trying to figure out the initial jump timing, because there is a gap between the platform and the sword, and you didn't see it very well.

2. Jumping feels very annoying because the height is so low, and the player starts to fall again so quickly. There seems to be infinite walljump, and there is a doublejump, but this still feels counterintuitive compared to other platformers. Also walljumping and double jumping should probably be explained ingame if the game is continued. (Double jumping might have been mentioned ingame, apologies if so).

3. For a game filled with tricky timing and instant deaths, the game over delay is super super SUPER annoying. Many games like VVVVVV or Super Meat Boy may have instant deaths, but I think those sorts of games may also offer a quick path back into the action to avoid frustration. With this game, there are a few seconds where you can't do anything but stare at a bar, repeated over and over. Even if a bar is only 2-3 seconds, multiply that by a bunch of deaths in a session, and a player may literally spend minutes just looking at a game over bar.

4. The powered-up beam attack can apparently not destroy the little blocks that your handgun destroys, which felt odd. It took me a very long time to figure out that the sword could self-fly through the second or third checkpoint.

5. It would be nice to have a clearer visual or audio indicator that the sword charge is full. Sometimes I would get particles but no beam, which might result in instantly dying to an enemy.

6. There is no handgun charge shot, and I can buttonmash to fire rapidly. It would be really nice if I could just hold down the fire button instead of having to mash, since players are just going to rapidfire anyway to destroy blocks and enemies. Might as well be nice to the player! :D

7. Since I can control the sword but not the player while riding on it, it would be really nice if I could fly it backwards. I can accelerate the level by flying forwards, but not being able to stop or go backwards is just an added frustration without much fun or satisfaction coming out.

I hope you will forgive my very detailed comment, but the clash of such polish with several irritating mechanics apparently made me feel strongly enough to take some time typing it out. Good luck in your future development!

Mini Submission FAQ

TEAMS: Teams entering the Jam should pick a single representative to submit your game, or create a team specific account you can share. We currently do not support Team Voting, but sharing an account and together playing and rating games is acceptable.

CAN I ENTER BOTH EVENTS?: You should pick 1 event, whichever you think it’ll do better in. If the idea is strong, and everything plays well enough, you can go Compo. If you’re a perfectionist, and would prefer people to play a more polished game, do the Jam. Historically, more games are entered in the Compo, but with more people and more time, Jam games have the potential to be better (that doesn’t mean they are). Many solo participants do enter the Jam.

If you made 2 games, unfortunately, the website doesn’t support multiple submissions per user. To submit your 2nd game, you will have to make a 2nd account. Only do this if you made 2 games. Alternatively, if one game is better than the other, then consider just entering the better game.

CAN I KEEP WORKING UNTIL THE DEADLINE?: Yes! Immediately after the 48 or 72 hours, we do something called Submission Hour. As the name suggests, it’s an extra hour for you to package, upload, and submit your games. If there were catastrophic issues trying submitting your game, or you misunderstood how submissions work, that’s okay. It happens. We’re flexible. If you need advice, check with the folks on IRC. If you need an admin, get in touch.

CAN I KEEP WORKING ON MY GAME?: Oh definitely! You should! But for the sake of judging, keep the Compo or Jam version around. You can include a link to the Post-Compo/Post-Jam version of your game on your games page, but sure your main links are the original version.

PORTS: Ports to other platforms can be done after the deadline. That said, the sooner you finish your port, the sooner people can play your game, improving your chances of placing in the final results. For best results, provide a Web version of your game, or a Windows version with no dependencies. Also be sure to rate at least 20 games to improve your visibility (Coolness).

MY GAME CRASHES, IS UNBEATABLE, OR I MADE A TYPO: We allow you to fix crashes, win condition, or tiny bugs after the deadline. In a sense, this is like “porting” to support more players. We leave this open to interpretation, but generally speaking your game should be identical to the game you submitted. No new features, just fixing mistakes you should have caught had you been better rested.

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